Tony Blair encourages Northern Irland to break down segregation

The former prime minister Tony Blair encouraged Northern Irland to break down segregation and to focus more on the real threat of terrorist attacks.

Blair declared in an interview with the BBC Radio 4: “Some of the deep social problems and their political consequences still remain and what is true also is that it is still very easy for politics to break back into sectarianism.”

“The answer to this is that it takes a long period of time. I think in Northern Ireland we have got to be realistic, we have also got to keep working at it, because we didn’t stop working at it and I think you have got to do that if you really want the reconciliation to take hold.”

Blair emphasized the violence of the terrorism and the danger associated with it. At the same time, he pointed out the change of attitude of the Northern Irland communities towards this issue.

Another important point of his speech regarded the segregation of Northern Irland’ politics, revealing that they are on the right track.

When he was asked about his opinion regarding Sinn Féin and the possibility of taking control of both South and North, Blair preferred to remain impartial.